End-of-life care in Britain must broaden to include the spiritual needs of patients, experts on health and social issues have said.

According to The Daily Telegraph, as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) carries out consultations on new guidelines on caring for terminally ill patients in the UK – to replace the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway – concerns have been raised that not enough is being done to address ways in which doctors cater to the spiritual needs of their patients.

Lecturer in palliative care, Katherine Sleeman, said that, too often “people focus on the physical, but there is not much attention paid to spiritual or psychological needs”.

In a world of medical advances, where saving lives has become better, Dr Sleeman added: “It can be quite scary to sit down and ask the patient about death and what they are afraid of. It’s not something doctors want to do, but it is essential.”

Her colleague, Dr Jonathan Koffmann, said that young medical students have often never experienced death or grieving.

“It’s really the last taboo,” he said, adding, however, “it’s incumbent on upon us to make sure that end-of-life care is the best we can provide. We can’t undo these moments.”

Currently in Britain, some 50% of people die in hospital, despite their desire to be at home.